We sat down with Chilean artist Veronica Ibanez Romagnoli this week and asked her a few questions about her work and practice.
TWFA: Veronica - thanks for sitting down with us! I’m curious as to how and where you photographed the series Animitas and what your thoughts are about the project?
VI: The series Animitas, started as part of a project that photographed Chile along the main highway from the very top north city Arica, to the very south Puerto Williams, in Patagonia. The idea was to portray what you can see from the car while you drive, things that usually gets lost in the blurriness of the speed.
The Animitas are part of our culture, they are meant to remember the people that pass away on the highway, they are built by their family or friends; then they become a place to stop, pray, ask for favors or protection for drivers.
I decided to photograph them as they are very particular and interesting in shape and decoration, but also they draw my attention as I wonder the story behind those “little empty houses”, who the person was, how did they die, who built their “animita” etc.
As I photograph them along the country, I realized something that I didn’t expect, that being how their construction changes depending on where they where geographically speaking. Chile, it’s about 4000 km long, which creates a very different climate and geography. Because of that, our northern area is dry and mostly desert, and the southern part of the country is very humid, cold and rainy….Well, I realised that up north, animates many times had a tree on the side, and that meant that each person that stooped by, pours some water to this tree to make it survive, most of the animates there had big crosses to be visible from far and the shape was very varied. On the other hand, down south most of them are a little house, well constructed and very structured, to protect the “interior” from the rain and bad weather I guess. And on the central area, the majority are made with concrete or tiles, I guess they are stronger and more resistant to adversity as they are in the most populated part of the country.
So in the end, this project is a portraiture project, through the animates, the personality and costumes of people are somehow revealed. I feel that I can see and understand many things from the people that live there by looking and analyzing the animates that they build. I’m convinced that part of ourselves is shown and transmitted in our constructions and objects, and animates are part of that.
TWFA: Your series Observing the Time [on view at the gallery] makes me think about the dynamic nature of the universe, or rather the concepts it contains; space, light, matter, mass, time and how we perceive those elements through the filter of vision. Is that something you were thinking about while making the work?
VI: Yes, absolutely. This series of work, or more so, the investigation that I have been doing since 2009 about the light, comes from my own curiosity and experience about the relationship between light and space. I have realized that light is a key factor in our perception of spaces, if we feel welcomed or rejected in a certain place, it probably has more to do with how is lit than the actual architecture or design of it. The color, intensity and shape of the light influences the perception of our surroundings much more than its actual shape. On the other hand, at some point I got really attracted about the fact that light and shadows are constantly moving remanding us about the way the Universe works and how nature is present in our everyday light…If we think about it, it is clear and logic, but I feel that it is easily forgotten due our hectic life full of devices and machines which rule our day.
Some how this work is an attempt to capture the subtleties of this permanent movement by focusing in something that we experience everyday but usually unattended. The fleeting quality of the light makes it so appealing to me, it is a constant evidence on how unique is every moment.
TWFA: There seems to be a real human or autobiographical element to your work even though it is not portraiture. Can you perhaps give us an insight into your concepts and why you feel it’s important to remove the figure from your photographs?
VI: Well, my work has both human and autobiographical elements, and that comes from the fact that I’m focusing on our relationship with spaces and constructions and how we interact with them. On the other hand, I’m dealing with objects and constructions that belong to people, that show their culture, personality or lifestyle. These subjects are also related with my personal experience.
Removing the figure is an act to avoid falling in the anecdote. I want the observer to be able to connect with the image and remember some personal experience or situation. My idea is to show things that are particular but at the same time unique, where people can feel somehow related to. If I put a human figure, the viewer will start automatically trying to guess or understand the story of that character instead of digging in its own experience to connect it with what is on the image.
I truly believe that we are present in our belongings, meaning that we show big part of our personality, what we are and how we relate with everything around us is somehow shown trough the objects we posses, our clothes, spaces, decorations etc. I find pretty attractive the idea to guess about someone’s life or personality, just by looking at their things and not their face. I feel is more honest, because all our decisions on what we have are based on needs and interests, and those are things we can control…You can’t control the shape of your face, or the color of your eyes…But you can control, what shoes you wear, or what color are the walls of your house, the style of car, the decorations on your house and so on.
TWFA: You are a keen mountaineer, do you find that your passion for the outdoors somehow affects your art, be it process or subject?
VI: Being exposed to nature in such extreme environments gives you the chance to see very unique scenes, conditions of light and colors, and that definitely relates to my work, even if nature is just one of my subjects, it gives me a different vision than the one in the urban landscape.
TWFA: Your subject matter tends to move from highly personal spaces or dwellings to vast landscapes. Would you say that you find interest in extremes?
VI: Subconsciously I assume, as I have never realized that factor. But yes, now that you point it out, I’m interested in contrast and therefore extremes. My process of work, many times implies collecting various images that are put aside to point out the difference between them and how they inform to each other, which in the end shows extremes.
TWFA: I get a sense of nostalgia when I see your work, the barren or discarded landscapes and Animitas, the intensely personal spaces, the passing of time, the moment, the past. As the viewer I realize that I project onto the work, but I’m curious whether that is a part of your subject?
VI: Absolutely! My goal is to make the viewer connect somehow with what I show and bring back personal experiences or memories to re visit them trough what they are seeing.
TWFA: What are you working on at the moment and what direction do you feel your work is taking?
VI: I’m working on few different projects right now, one is about the shoes of people, another is about old objects, another about drawings! And at the same time I keep going with my work about the light and shadows but bringing it to a level in which the box is participating more as an object and not only as a container.
[caption id="attachment_10200" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Animata's # 33, 2009. Photo Print by Veronica Ibanez Romagnoli[/caption]
Written by
